First of all, let me get something out of the way: just because the title of this game is King's Quest VI, don't make the assumption that a King is in anyway involved. In fact, you play a Prince (which is nothing like a King) and the supreme baddie falls under the evil vizier umbrella. You'll soon forget this titular betrayal when you reach the subtitle: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow. I'll give you a moment to let that sink in.



King's Quest VI is about a guy named Alexander looking for a girl he saw in a mirror once. Of course you wouldn't know that if you just started – the opening cinematic doesn't play when you start a new game. You don't really miss much, though. Here is an excerpt:



After that there isn't much story. Since it's an "adventure" game there isn't much gameplay either. You can walk, talk or look at and pick up objects. In fact, King's Quest is an inspiration for many modern games where you also pick up objects, such as Call of Duty where you pick up ammo or God of War where you pick up glowing orbs. Except in King's Quest, you pick up things like a frozen cabbage. Here is a quote from me describing the development of God of War:

"In God of War, the developers really looked at King's Quest as an example of picking up things. It was an inspiration. I think Cory Barlog and David Jaffe probably played co-op King's Quest for at least two hours."

One of the places the game excels is in political correctness. It has very ugly graphics which means it probably came out around 1984, when there was lots of prejudice. Along your adventures you will meet, for example, a hobo, a black entrepreneur, a white guy who wishes he was Indian, a gay sailor, an emo, an oyster, and a guy who is also a dog. As you can see, the developers planned for the future when bestiality produced man-dogs that would be the target of insults and jeers. The game is a timeless masterpiece in this regard. The gay sailor also invites you into his home and just stares at you, so there is probably a side quest where Alexander gets it on with him.



The game is a little slow for the first ten hours, where you use items to solve puzzles in ways that don't make sense. Luckily there is a website www.gamefaqs.com that will tell you how. I will give you a hint right now to help you along. There is a dude with a golden eye who seriously hates your guts for no reason. Don't trust this mother, he will kill you dead. He is also a Transformer.



His weakness is mints, which is a clever commentary on the current world oil crisis, which they totally saw coming. Eventually you get a dagger, which unfortunately you do not get to pick up but it is handed to you (I was really looking forward to trying the mechanic of picking things up on this, so I was disappointed). Too bad you can't use the dagger on anyone, but I guess they still wanted to be politically correct.

Over all the game is pretty good, but more current collecting games like God of War are definitely cooler, because you actually get to use daggers [on chains]. I would play that instead if I were you.